Plymouth-NorthWood 3-2 (2-0)

On a typical fall night, the Panthers travel to Plymouth to face the undefeated Rockies in our last NLC contest of the season. Already prepared for a dismal arbitration performance, we start the evening without the National Anthem. Plymouth has an experienced (IHSAA & Mexican League) squad. We have been able to study their game versus Northridge ad nauseum. So, tactically prepared but practically maybe not. From the whistle, Plymouth comes at us with numbers. Marshall gets turned around on an attack in the 7th and is not able to recover goal side on #2 and the first hard shot lands in the net for a very early 1-0 lead. Sixty ticks later a pass at the top of the NW box. The ball gets to meet Plymouth #4's right boot and before we even recover from the first goal, the second already hits the ropes again, 2-0. So, defensively we do the opposite from what we discussed before kick off. We knew that Plymouth loves to shoot from 16-25 yards out and a variety of the Plymouth players have a great shot. In the 10th, Plymouth looks to extend their lead and maybe put the game out of reach with a nice shot to Graber's right but his unbelievable save keeps us in the game. NW finally settles down and Sebastian starts to take over the game by holding the ball, showing composure and starting to distribute the ball to the wings and into the box. In the 14th, Seba gets a high ball into the 18 and a Kayden Newcomer header requires a save by the very good Plymouth keeper. At seventeen minutes into the game, center referee Gamaal Hernandez makes a terrible call (as he would pretty much consistently). Coach Duerksen and Dijkstra (sr.) both scream loud at him which makes him stop the clock, waddle over to the technical area (surprisingly does not tip over) and tells Duerksen "one more word and you're off" to which Duerksen responds "you're terrible". The ref reaches in his pocket as coach Dijkstra utters (almost begging) "just yellow". The ref fumbles around with the cheap plastic holder that contains both a red and yellow plastic card. He shows Duerksen the yellow caution while Dijkstra thanks him to which the horse rider responds "thank you" sarcastically. For the record, it was the only time coach Dijkstra was genuinely nice to the ref tonight. After his little show of power, Hernandez resumes the game with a toss ball (apparently drop balls are not on his repertoire any more). In the 20th NorthWood gets a scoring opportunity when we get awarded a free kick just outside the box. Sebastian seems to strike the ball perfect, it disappears into the left corner and it looks like it will be a goal but somehow, the Plymouth keep gets down super quick and stops the ball. NorthWood gets several opportunities on balls in the box. We do not connect decisively with the ball and are unable to score. HALF TIME - Some defensive issues are discussed such as goal side defending and stepping to the ball outside the box to prevent easy shots by the Plymouth strikers and midfielders. SECOND HALF - Despite discussing the fact that we can not come out flat again like we did in the first half at the half time speech, we neglect to come out strong and give up another goal in the 43rd. But within seconds we strike back. A Nick Lechlitner free kick flies at the Plymouth GK. Andre is right there but does a very savvy thing; he does nothing. He just stands by the keeper as the ball comes down. He does not interfere with the keeper but the pressure of Andre just being present is enough for the keeper to panic, he drops the ball and to Andre's surprise, the ball just sits in front of his feet and just a tab over the line decreases the lead back to 2, 3-1. The Plymouth defense is on the verge of collapse. A lot of NW attacks are dangerous. Various (3 for sure) absolute NW corners are called by the AR and Center ref as Plymouth goal kicks. Before the game we had been warned by several other IHSAA officials that the arbitration at Plymouth games is a lot of home cooking. That prediction would hold true. Before the game the announcer says that these refs are certified by the IHSAA, he did not say what they were certified in but it is not refereeing a soccer game, that much is crystal clear. Back to the game (I finally fell off my soap box, although I am embarrassed to say that I have had the same certification which I will now denounce).In the 50th, Andre presses on the right side, attacks the left defender and crosses the ball between the 6 and 12 to Kayden. A perfect touch by Kayden disappears over the goal line, 3-2. Nick Lechlitner, after discussing this with the coaches during one of the many injury stoppages, will deliver as many high balls into the box as possible in order to put pressure on the Plymouth back line. It might not be the prettiest way to play the game but it has become obvious that the Rockies defense is not very good at defending crosses into the goal mouth. In the 68th, Nick delivers another perfect high cross into the box. Two Plymouth defenders run into their own keeper who has to leave the field. We would get a corner in the same minute which misses just to the left of the frame and Andre is in a good position near the goal when a shot goes wide left and his effort to redirect just misses. All in all, we had our chances and we brought the undefeated and now NLC champs to its knees a couple of times but were unlucky in my opinion to not come away with a result. A draw seemed like it would have been a fair result. Another great effort however by our boys who never stopped fighting and left it all on the field. Sebastian was relentless and nearly unstoppable. Sebastian is the Dutch Touch Player of the Game. The Panthers are 8-3-4 on the season going into Thursday's home game (and last game of the regular season) against Bethany Christian. The JV loses 3-0 to Plymouth and finishes the season at 7-4-3 (second best record ever; congrats to Seth and Brayton's boys!). REFEREE SCORE CARD (Scale 0-10 with 10 being great and 0 being "awful crap quality")

AR1 - "4" - unable to identify corners of any kind.

CENTER REF - 1 (not number 1, just "1"- to quote coach Duerksen "not sure how it is possible but he manages to get worse every year". NOTES - Back at it again today from 3-4:30. We will start with the (Ga)lactic acid run.